The Interpreter

Laura Clifford

Robin Clifford

When translator Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman, "The Stepford
Wives") overhears an assassination plot within the United Nations, Secret
Service Agent Tobin Keller (Sean Penn, "Mystic River") is assigned to protect
the threatened Matoban President Zuwanie (Earl Cameron, "Thunderball").
Keller is frustrated by what he believes Broome is not telling him and finds
himself also protecting her even while suspecting her involvement in director
Sydney Pollack's ("Random Hearts," "Out of Africa") "The Interpreter."

Laura:
Not only is "The Interpreter" Pollack's best film since 1993's "The Firm,"
but it is the first movie allowed to film within the United Nations.
This smart, adult political thriller is the most satisfying movie to be released
by a major distributor so far this year.

The film opens in Matobo with three men in a jeep arriving at a remote sports
stadium. A black man and a white man tell the third, photographer Philippe
(Yvan Attal, "My Wife Is an Actress"), to stay behind. They enter and
a few young kids take them to see what they have come to see - the stacked
bodies of their countrymen, the victims of genocide. Unfortunately,
their contact was a trap and the two men are killed after a message is relayed
from 'the teacher.' Philippe manages to take some pictures and escape.
Meanwhile, back at the UN, Silvia, the only interpreter who can translate
the Ku dialect (the language and its country of origin were both created for
the film), is brought into a negotiation between the UN and Matobo.
The Matobans act defensively and declare 'the teacher,' Zuwanie, will address
the assembly. That night Silvia overhears his assassination plan.

The cleverly constructed screenplay by Charles Randolph ("The Life of David
Gale"), Scott Frank ("Minority Report") and Steven Zaillian ("Gangs of New
York") with major input from Pollack keeps the audience guessing throughout.
It demands attention to keep up with the various camps moving about a complex
playing field, but it's worth the effort. Silvia, whose exotic background
includes growing up in Matobo where family members were killed by Zuwanie's
land mines, is tight-lipped after Keller informs her he and his partner Dot
Woods (Catherine Keener, "The Ballad of Jack & Rose") are there to protect
Zuwanie and not her. The Service (Keller's boss is played by Pollack)
thinks it is suspicious that an assassination would be discussed in a room
full of microphones in a language that only Broome would understand.
A polygraph proves inconclusive due to stress (the audience has seen that
Silvia is visibly upset by the presence of Nils Lud (Jesper Christensen, "The
Inheritance" ("Arven")), Zuwanie's head of security), but when Silvia learns
her brother has been killed (Simon (Hugo Speer, "The Full Monty") was that
white man in the stadium), Keller begins to build trust by sharing the grief
he is experiencing - his wife was killed a mere two weeks prior.

This central relationship will likely frustrate those expecting sexual sparks
to fly between a movie's leads, but the unlike pairing of Kidman and Penn
works at a different, more intellectual level. These are people who
are both in extreme states of mourning, not two people who are looking to
get it on, and the understanding and caring that develops between the two
actors feels genuine and hard won. Kidman does a great job playing a
cultured woman of unusual background with just a touch of South African in
her accent. A slightly graying Penn, looking sleep-deprived, plays Keller
as a man crushed under a great weight hanging onto his high stress job as
an emotional lifesaver. Several times throughout the film, Penn offers
photo evidence as proof of Silvia's withholding information, then backs off
while she fills in the blanks. African concepts, one of being on two sides
of a river, the other about the emotional consequences of vengeance, are
also clever devices that gradually connect the characters. Supporting players
are all spot on with Keener providing a steadying injection of dry wit.

Pollack and his cinematographer Darius Khondji ("Wimbledon," "Panic Room")
showcase the United Nations as modern, light and airy. Figures are frequently
observed behind glass, like the characters who may not lie but may not always
disclose all. The film's highlight is one tautly edited (William Steinkamp,
"Runaway Jury," "Random Hearts") sequence featuring Silvia confronting one
of Zuwanie's opponents suspected of betrayal to the cause, the Brooklyn-based
Kuman-Kuman (George Harris, "Black Hawk Down"), on a bus while she's tailed
by Keller's underling Marcus (Michael Wright, "Piñero") who has just
ID'ed another suspect carrying a satchel to Keller and Woods via cell phone.
It is a textbook illustration of Hitchcock's theory of suspense.

B+

Robin:
A faulty security device forces the evacuation of the General Assembly, staff
members and the thousands visitors to the United Nations. Interpreter Sylvia
Broome (Nicole Kidman), as she leaves, realizes that she forgot her bag and
sneaks back in to retrieve it. She overhears a conversation on a set of headphones
with one man saying, “The Teacher will never leave this room alive.” The
Teacher is the nickname for the dictator of Sylvia’s homeland, Matobo, Africa,
and she finds herself in the thick of an assassination plot in Sydney Pollack’s
“The Interpreter.”

Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn, as Secret Service diplomat protector Tobin Keller,
may be the nominal stars of “The Interpreter,” but helmer Pollack and company
have succeeded in the location coup of filmmaking. Alfred Hitchcock lobbied
hard to be allowed to us the United Nations and its famous General Assembly
as the backdrop for some of his 1959 film, “North by Northwest.” Since then,
many have tried to get permission to use the distinctive landmark but all
have failed. Until now.

In a master craftsman manner, Pollack has taken this hallowed institute and
made it the third star of his film that tells a story of political intrigue,
power play and assassination. Sylvia, on her return to the interpreters’
boot to fetch her stuff, overhears an assassination plot in her native Matobo
language of Ku (both country and language invented for the story). The plot,
to kill dictator, Dr. Edmund Zuwanie (Earl Cameron), makes her pause in notifying
the authorities right away. Zuwanie was the man responsible for ordering
widespread mine laying to suppress Matoban rebels. The order results in the
death of Sylvia’s parents and sister and leaves an unrequited anger seething
within the intelligent, pretty interpreter.

Sylvia’s initial reluctance to come forth with the information she overheard
cause the UN diplomatic security people to bring in the US Secret Service
for help. Agents Keller and Dot Woods (Catherine Keener) are assigned to
the case but, instead of treating Sylvia like a cooperative witness, Tobin
acts as if she is a suspect. As fact upon fact is uncovered and the assassination
plot thickens, Keller tempers his mistrust for Broome even when he learns
that, after her family’s death, she joined the rebels against Zuwanie. Things
get very complicated as the political forces within and without Matobo vie
for power and control of the country.

The Interpreter” is a slickly crafted political thriller that keeps the viewer
guessing right along the way. Stars Kidman and Penn do fine in their principal
roles but it’s the writing and exemplary supporting cast (and the stunning
United Nation locale) that make “The Interpreter” a worthy entry into the
political thriller genre.

Kidman is ethereally beautiful as Sylvia Broome and, once again proves her
acting skills with a credible South African type accent and believable conversing
in the fictional Ku. She is convincing as Sylvia and puts both mystery and
emotion into her character. Sean Penn does a yeoman’s job as the troubled
dignitary protector who lost his unfaithful dancer wife in a car accident
only weeks before. Penn subtly conveys the angst of the depressed man who
needs his job, even this crisis, to save him from his plight. There isn’t
any romantic development (OK, maybe a little) between Sylvia and Tobin and
this keeps the story moving along without wasting time on unrealistic romantic
interludes – this was biggest gripe I had about another Sydney Pollack political
thriller, “Three Days of the Condor,” with Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway.

The supporting cast and the screenplay (by Charles Randolph, Scott Frank
and Steve Zaillian adapting the story by Martin Stellman and Brian Ward)
give full dimension to the characters and the tale of political intrigue.
Catherine Keener, as Keller’s partner, Dot, has the normally unforgiving
role as the loyal sidekick but is able to infuse both humor and compassion
in the part. Jesper Christensen, as Zuwanie’s Dutch mercenary head of security,
Nils Lud, keeps you guessing as he increasingly becomes a key part in the
assassination plot. Earl Cameron, as Dr. Zuwanie, does a solid job as a man
who once, a long time ago, was of the people but has eschewed this role for
absolute power in Matobo. George Harris, as Zuwanie’s exiled opposition leader,
Kuman-Kuman, puts a 3D performance into what is a small, but important, role.
The rest of the supporting cast help flesh things out.

The technical aspects for “The Interpreter” are first rate across the board.
Darius Khondji’s lensing is some of the best this year, bringing out the
various UN locations with a sure hand and eye. His camera dotes on Kidman
nicely, too. The rest of the techs are a credit to “The Interpreter.”

The two-plus hour runtime is not a problem for this taut thriller. Besides
the main story thread, there are other weavings to follow as the truth slowly
comes out and the real motivations and plots come to fruition. This is a
slickly produced political suspencer that should do well on both big and
small screens. The production is of such high quality, though, you really
should try to catch it in the theater. I give it a B+.